legal agreement between landlord and tenant

[joans]

under duress, i signed an agreement,outside the courtroom, between my landlord's attorney and myself - to
1-waiver rent for jan-feb-mar.
2-pay rent for apr-may.
3-to vacate by june.
4-landlord to return security.
5-marshall activated.
i have not been able to secure a suitable place to live.
i am afraid that i will be thrown out by the marshall if i am not out by june.

q. is there a way to be granted more time to look for a place to live?
q. since i signed this agreement will i be evicted by the marshall in June?
q. should i contact the courts to request more time?
thank you in advance--joan

 

[LL]

Under duress, Ha!

I suppose that the duress was that you were about to evicted and judgement granted for all of the back rent. Or are you going to tell us that the nasty old landlord has kidnapped your children and was about to cut off their ears if you don't sign.

You made an agreement (stipulation) and you will have to keep it. There is no such thing as not being able to secure a suitable place to live.

I would not be surprised if you are having difficulty in finding a place to live because your reputation as a bad tenant has caught up with you, and the eviction is on your record.

Grow up and become a participant in the rental process instead of acting like a spoiled, dependent child.

 

[joans]

i do not need to respond with words as cheap as yours!
no wonder you are not a lawyer!!!

is there a lawyer, who has experience and can offer some real advice?

 

[mary hartman]

Under duress.....not likely....

You owed da moneeeee, and u did not have it to pay the landlord...

YOU GOT A GREAT DEAL......BUT YOU ARE NOT VERY BRIGHT!

yes the marshall will be contaced the next day after you are supposed to be out, and chances are they will forcefully evict you in 72 hours....

hmmmm i want to see this.... where do you live?


PS....yes you can in most instances extend the time for eviction....but in this case MONEY talks and BS walks!

You will have to pay rent for june, PLUS since you violated the agreement, the landlord must get something in return, like maybe YOU paying ALL his legal fees..in exchange for that extra month....very expensive but it's not VERY BRIGHT!



[Edited by mary hartman on 04-09-2001 at 12:19 PM]

 

[joans]

okay, everyone is a wise-...,
i do not owe any back rent nor am i a bad tenant.
i agreed to this because the scum of the earth are the people who are subjected to the courtroom...so i tried to end it on a fair note! anyway, i live in a nice section in bklyn.

 

[mary hartman]

JOAN you are in NYC, is this a rent stabilized apartment, 6 units or more in the building, did you have a lease, what is the whole story.....

 

[mary hartman]

we need the details becuase if you can prove duress you can go back to the judge...

but with the landlord already offering you 3 months FREE rent...and your secuity back AND you dont have to pay his legal fees

the chanceses are almost zero...unless they did something illegal.

 

[joans]

not NYC, bklyn.
landlord did not want to give a lease.
i have been there 4 years
this is a 2-family house
nice 5 room apt
over landlords (old-hus/wife team) straight from italy
good neighborhood-where my kids grew up

 

[mary hartman]

Sorry nothing you can do you did get a great deal for new york ...yes brooklyn is in New York City....

You have no lease so they are only obligated to give you a 30 day notice unless you have 2 months security....

Thats the risk you take in renting, unless its an aprtment building then a private home no one can force a landlord to give you a lease...

so it is up to you to budget very very well since you probably had cheap rent....

maybe they wanted to rennovate or have other family members live there....but without a lease, they are in control,

So to get 3 months free rent,no legal fees, and your security back is a FANTASTIC DEAL....use the money wisely

Maybe you should move to Harlem, or sunnyside queens, still good apartments and cheap rent and good commuting to midtown.

 

[LL]

Without knowing anything at all about NY law, (or NYC or BKLYN) I would hazard a guess:

That if you agreed to a stipulation (that is a stipulated judgement), that stipulation was the basis for a judgement which is probably finalized and you cannot re-open it. It includes an eviction order. All that is usually necessary if you default on your part of the stipulation, is for the landlord to go to the (marshall, sheriff, police, etc) with a writ, and the peace officer will comply with the writ and carry out the eviction. Its automatic. There is no re-opening the case, asking for more time. You had your day in court (outside the courtroom by your consent)and you were already ordered to be evicted.

You don't have any case of duress. You're not kidding anyone.

Good tenants pay their rent and on time, and if they don't, they get evicted. What kind of tenant are (were) you?

 

[mary hartman]

Actually LL a judge can reopen the case, and change the stip and even dismiss it...if they can prove they were harassed or forced to sign away their rent stabilzation rights, or renewal rights or other RS rights.. .... and if the tenant did not have a lawyer present, or if the tenant has no lawyer then it MUST be signed in front of a judge, NOT in the hallway.

Cases like joan's will not be reopened, because the landlord in essence has paid her to move.

 

[LL]

I do not believe you that it will be re-opened for anything other than a genuine error. A judge can always look over any case and make orders, but he is not so free to overturn a stipulated judgement without a very good reason. I am sure that it is enough for the judge to ask joans in court if she agrees to the stipulation that was handed to him with signatures, and I'll bet that he did (and she said yes).

Joans does not have duress. She was faced with having to pay back rent plus legal fees, and still facing eviction and she agreed to the stipulation because it meant that she could stay a little longer. She simply is unwilling to pick herself up and find a new place to live, and it is her way to whine (even in the beginning of April) that she cannot find a new place to live for June, because she still hopes that she won't have to move at all (or pay Jan-Feb-March rent).

If her stipulation were to be overturned, then the whole stipulation would be overturned, and she would owe back rent, even more legal fees and she would still face eviction. But it won't be overturned.

 

[mary hartman]

LL:

Let me explain rent stabilization: it is in effect in buildings built before 1974 and with 6 or more aprtments, in exchange for a regulated rent the landlord gets a real estate tax break, so the landlord is guarenteed to make a decent profit... but in boom times they want to deregulate the building, and then when they get socked next year with triple real estate taxes, they cry poverty!


So anything less the 6 apartments are almost Never covered, but landlords are greedy, and if they get an old tenant out they could double, triple the rent,so they do some sneaky things, and at least the courts here, have a way of dealing with illegal stipulations, and harassment...

But in joans case its a 2 family and she has done very well to get the landlord top ay her to move."3 months free rent"

 

[joans]

i did not stop paying rent at any time.
one day the landlord served me with a summons to appear in court. the landlord didnt need a reason only to say that he wants the floor empty, and that is satifactory to the court.

bye the way-i have been looking for a place since the first weekend after i went to court. no moss grew under my feet. i also got qualified to buy a co-op or condo or townhouse for 120 with 5% down. every chance i get i call real estates and look through the news and talk to everyone to get any leads. thus far nothing has been available.

also, i am not going to claim "duress" to try and worm my way out so i do not have to move. i wrote that because at the time i signed i was and still am under the gun! i am not looking for pitty or snide comments.

thanks for your replies!

 

[LL]

dj, you crazy jackass.

I have talked to other landlords and attorneys about your postings about New York, and every agrees you are full of beans.

This is not an illegal stipulation. You haven't got any judgement or education, and you cant recognize a deadbeat when you see one.

Joans didn't pay her rent and she was evicted. The landlord was able to hurry up the procedure by offering a deal that someone like joans couldn't refuse, namely free rent when she couldn't afford any rent at all. So Joans took the deal (willingly) and now she doesn't want to deliver on her part.
She is accustomed to whining for everything in her life, and wanting other people to pay her way, and you need the ego boost to be the hero who can tell her how to get out of her mess.

Do you really think that someone with my education and experience doesn't understand how people (landlords and tenants alike) cheat, with and without rent control? Do you think that I don't understand about rent controls across the country, even if I don't know all of the details? From your world view its a big step. Those of us who make a good living out of dealing with these problems have already an understanding as well as ways of dealing with these problems and avoiding them.

Do you really think that I don't know both landlords and eviction lawyers in New York, or who practice here in the winter? Do you think I haven't shown them your postings? Do you think that any educated person doesn't come to the conclusion that you are disturbed, and even make educated inferences about the basis of your problems?

You are so clearly full of beans.

Joans cannot overturn her stipulated judgement. That is not to say that if the landlord was really holding her children for ransom, and threatening bodily harm to them that the question of examining any possible duress wouldn't get a hearing? But Joans isn't going to have her stipulated judgement overturned, because there is no reason to do that. She took the quid and won't give the quo, and she's going be be evicted in June if she doesn't leave by herself. Even in New York, because the landlord is entitled to have his property back, and Joans even agreed to it. The judge has already ruled, and ordered the eviction, with her agreement. Even New York courts will do it.

I don't think that you have ever been in the New York courts.